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May the month for opera in London

Between programming from Orchestra London and Western University’s Canadian Operatic Arts Academy (COAA), May is shaping up to be a busy month for opera in the Forest City.

On Saturday, May 11, Orchestra London wraps up their 2012-2013 Masterworks Series with Italian Opera Finale at Centennial Hall. Alain Trudel, Orchestra London’s music director, will conduct the orchestra and singers from the COAA in Italian operas by Verdi, Puccini and Rossini as well as modern classics like Bootlegger’s Tarantella by Canadian composer John Estacio.

Frequent Orchestra London guest performer and Western professor Sophie Louise Roland serves as the general director of the COAA — an international program that provides singers, pianists and directors with the skills to “obtain, realize and sustain a prolific rewarding career in the operatic profession.”

“This year marks our fifth anniversary and we are thrilled to have established a strong presence in London,” Roland said in a press release. “I am thrilled that COAA is engaged in the London community and collaborates with London based organizations. Ties between the faculty and (Orchestra London) are healthy for London and certainly for the London music scene.”

The program May 11 will feature performers from across Canada as well as some international singers.

“For some singers, this will be their first experience outside of their home country,” Roland said. “It becomes a fantastic experience for all.”

After the show at Centennial Hall, Orchestra London and the COAA come together again May 24-26, this time at the Paul Davenport Theatre in Talbot College at Western. Almost 30 scenes from different operas will be presented.

“The beauty of this is we have operas from every genre, from early Italian to the Ghost of Versailles, a very modern opera,” Roland said. “They’re sung in all languages. It’s a sample of opera and is pretty extraordinary.”

Besides Roland, other COAA faculty members represent a number of international opera institutions. Simone Luti, from Milan, Italy and JoAnn Kulesza, from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, are the two musical directors.

Timothy Nelson, from the Opera Studio Nederland, is also an artistic director. Other faculty members include Americans Martin Katz, Andrew Altenbach and Gary Wedow, Montrealer Chantal Lambert, British conductor Oliver Gooch as well as Western’s own teachers.